Most Popular
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Seoul blanketed by heaviest Nov. snow, with more expected
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NewJeans to terminate contract with Ador
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NewJeans terminates contract with Ador, embarks on new journey
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Seoul snowfall now third heaviest on record
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Korean Air gets European nod to become Northeast Asia’s largest airline
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Samsung shakes up management, commits to reviving chip business
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Hybe consolidates chairman Bang Si-hyuk’s regime with leadership changes
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Heavy snow of up to 40 cm blankets Seoul for 2nd day
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Chaos unfolds as rare November snowstorm grips Korea for 2nd day
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BOK makes surprise 2nd rate cut to boost growth
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Self-employed people take hit from slump
The number of self-employed people shutting down their business last year jumped to a four-year high, suggesting that owners of mom-and-pop stores bore the brunt of the slowing economic growth, data showed Thursday.According to the data by the National Tax Service, business closures by self-employed people totaled 829,669 last year, up 3 percent or about 24,000 from a year earlier. It marked the largest number since 2007 when the figure was 848,000. By sector, the service sector including hair s
Oct. 18, 2012
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United Pharm first Korean firm to export anti-cancer drugs to Europe
Korea United Pharm Inc. will export two kinds of cancer-treating medicine to Poland, becoming the first Korean firm to ship such drugs to Europe, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said Thursday. KOTRA officials said the Korean pharmaceutical firm and Polish buyers had signed a contract to export the drugs it developed to treat lymphoma and prostate cancer. The first drug export deal will pave the way for more medical exports to the European market, the officials said.The deal involves
IndustryOct. 18, 2012
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SK chairman to focus on Southeast Asia
Chey in week-long visit to Thailand, Singapore, MalaysiaSK Group’s chairman Chey Tae-won flew to Thailand on Thursday to kick off his week-long business cooperation expansion effort with Southeast Asian countries.Beginning his trip by taking part in the two-day Asia Business Council Forum in Bangkok, Chey will stop by countries including Singapore and Malaysia and return to Seoul next Wednesday, according to SK officials. Chey, who is the head of the nation’s third-largest conglomerate, is expec
IndustryOct. 18, 2012
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Cheapest BMW to hit Korean market
BMW Korea launched Thursday the new 1 Series hatchback, which the German luxury carmaker says will reenergize competition in the nation’s premium compact car market. A total of six rear-wheel models, consisting of the five-door Urban Line and the more dynamic Sports Line, were unveiled for the Korean launch. The new 1 Series is the only compact model equipped with 8-speed automatic transmission, which lowers background noise and reduces fuel consumption, according to the carmaker. Fuel efficienc
IndustryOct. 18, 2012
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Strong won worsens profitability worries
Korean currency gains value against dollar rapidly compared to other foreign currenciesConcerns are rising that companies’ global competitiveness may be weakened as the U.S. dollar recently lost ground against the Korean won, amid the eurozone woes.The possibility that the Korean currency will rise in value up to nearly 1,000 won against the dollar is growing with the recent strenghtened position of the won after quantitative easing by the U.S. government.The dollar slid again to 1,104.3 won on
IndustryOct. 18, 2012
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Hyundai, Kia enjoy brisk sales in Europe in Sept.
South Korea’s leading automakers Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. saw steady sales growth in Europe last month despite the region’s contracted demand in the midst of the financial crisis, industry data showed Thursday.Hyundai and Kia, the flagship companies of Hyundai Motor Group, sold a combined 73,000 units in September in 27 European countries, up 3.7 percent from a year ago, according to the data.Their market share rose 0.9 percentage points to 6.6 percent last month.For the first nine
MobilityOct. 18, 2012
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Anipang boom boosts mobile game growth
South Koreans have a thing for lining up objects. Omok, a traditional board game in which two players compete to first line up five baduk stones, has flourished as a favorite pastime throughout generations.A similar game that requires nimbler hands, smartphones and mobile messenger friends, is now sweeping South Korea, one of the world’s most digitalized countries, as a new pastime.Whether it be a commuter subway or a lunchtime cafeteria queue, it’s easy to spot people squinting their eyes and c
TechnologyOct. 18, 2012
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Refiners bet on batteries to recharge business
Oil refiners seek transformation into energy companies for growth potential“New growth engine” has been one of the most bandied about phrases in the local corporate world over the past few years.With the global economic downturn being prolonged, companies have had no choice but to step up efforts to find new revenue sources within or beyond their core businesses. The nation’s top two oil refiners have bet on the rechargeable battery market to find a stable revenue source as their core oil refini
IndustryOct. 18, 2012
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NHN selects game literature winners
NHN Corp., the nation’s leading Internet portal operator, hosted its literature awards ceremony in Seoul on Thursday to foster creative talent shedding light on the genre. NHN Game Literary Award, an annual event taking place for the third time, was presented to 24 teams of awardees this year, including grand-prix winner Lee Byung-ha, whose work was chosen from a total of 1,500 long and short game scenarios. “At first we were unsure whether we could carry on, but now we see that the game literat
TechnologyOct. 18, 2012
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Samsung wins patent battle with Apple in U.K.
Samsung Electronics won another victory in its global patent battle with Apple Inc. as a court in London upheld an earlier decision that Galaxy tablet PCs did not copy the iPad’s design.The ruling in the United Kingdom is likely to deal a blow to Apple, especially considering that it is a matter involving what the U.S. company values most ― its design.The ruling reaffirmed an earlier order that Apple publicly declare that Samsung had not copied its design.Apple has been labeling Samsung as a “co
IndustryOct. 18, 2012
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“GenieTalk” tops app chart to mixed reviews
As the automatic translation application “GenieTalk” has taken the No. 1 spot on AppStore’s free popular app chart just one day after launching, early adopters across the nation and overseas are busy posting reviews on social network services -- on both the good and the bad.“GenieTalk,” a free Korean-English translation app developed by the Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institution w
TechnologyOct. 18, 2012
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Planet found at sun's closest neighbor
(ESO-UPI)European astronomers say they've discovered a planet about the mass of the Earth orbiting a star in the Alpha Centauri system, the nearest star system to Earth.Alpha Centauri, only 4.3 light-years away, is actually a triple star -- a system consisting of two stars similar to the Sun orbiting close to each other, designated Alpha Centauri A and B, and a more distant and faint red component
TechnologyOct. 18, 2012
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‘Housework’ makes female dragons die young
(UPI)Female Komodo dragons live just half as long as males on average and it's all down to physically demanding "housework," Australian researchers say.Females tied to tasks of building huge nests and guarding eggs for up to six months live for around 32 years, as compared to 60 years as an average lifespan for a male dragon, they said.A research team that included scientists from the University o
TechnologyOct. 18, 2012
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Giant smashup created the Moon, say scientists
(NASA-UPI)A chemical quirk found in lunar soil backs a 37-year-old theory that the Moon was born from an apocalyptic collision between Earth and a huge space rock, scientists said on Wednesday.Way back in 1975, astronomers proposed at a conference that billions of years ago, our satellite was created through a smashup between the infant Earth and a Mars-sized body they named Theia, in Greek mythol
TechnologyOct. 18, 2012
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Tablet owners reading more publications
Nearly 2 in 5 U.S. tablet owners read newspapers and/or magazines on their device, with 1 in 10 reading publications almost daily, a survey found.The poll by comScore for the three-month period ending August 2012 found 37.1 percent of tablet owners read a newspaper on their device at least once during the month, with 11.5 percent of tablet owners reading newspapers almost every day.Kindle Fire users displayed the strongest activity in reading newspapers and magazines on their device, a comScore
TechnologyOct. 18, 2012
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Self-employed people take hit from economic slump
The number of self-employed people shutting down their business last year jumped to a four-year high, suggesting that owners of mom-and-pop stores bore the brunt of the slowing economic growth, data showed Thursday.According to the data by the National Tax Service, business closures by self-employed people totaled 829,669 last year, up 3 percent or about 24,000 from a year earlier. It marked the l
Oct. 18, 2012
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Gov't mulls extending tax break on diesel for e-trade
The government is moving to extend various incentives for diesel imports that are traded electronically in a move to further stabilize energy prices that might have a large impact on overall consumer prices, market observers said Thursday.They said the government has already decided to extend the incentives until the end of next year. Most of the incentives, which include a full tax exemption, as
MobilityOct. 18, 2012
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Seoul shares open higher on hopeful U.S. data
South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight U.S. rallies on better housing data, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 4.88 points, or 0.25 percent, to 1,960.03 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor gained 0.22 percent and its affiliate auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis added 0.84 percent. Mobile phone maker LG Ele
Oct. 18, 2012
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Many firms undergoing full-fledged restructuring
Moves include scaling down payrolls, scrapping unprofitable businessesMore domestic companies are eager to set up contingency plans or conduct voluntary redundancy programs as economists raised the possibility of a long-term economic downturn from the eurozone woes.Their movement has been further accelerated after Woongjin Holdings and Kukdong Engineering & Construction shocked the market last month by filing for court receivership from their insolvent financial status.According to a poll by the
IndustryOct. 17, 2012
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Free Korean-English translation app introduced
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy unveiled Wednesday a smartphone application that automatically translates Korean and English to help ease the language barrier. “GenieTalk” offers translation services through both speech recognition and text. The application is designed to help out those who face difficulties communicating when visiting Korea and Koreans who travel abroad. The app contains 270,000 Korean and 65,000 English words.“GenieTalk senses Korean better and shows higher translation accur
TechnologyOct. 17, 2012
